Magnolia grandiflora named Brackens Brown Beauty

ABSTRACT

A new Southern magnolia of the grandiflora variety distinguished by a rapid growth rate and an abundant branch and foliage development which maintains a very dense habit from ground to almost the very top producing a compact pyramidal-oval crown, the abundant foliage being particularly distinguished by the yellow-green coloring of the new leaves which change to dark green at maturity and all of which have a rusty brown pubescence on the under side which affords a distinctive green and brown coloration for the entire tree. This new magnolia grandiflora is further distinguished by its profuse production of creamy white flowers which are half the size or less than those of the species and produce fruit that is about half the size of the fruit normal to the species.

BACKGROUND OF THE NEW PLANT

My new variety of magnolia grandiflora was discovered by me in 1968 as aseedling originated in a bed of about 2500 seedling grown Southmagnolias at my nursery in Easley, S.C. The original seeds for this bedof Southern magnolias resulted from open pollination of a number ofSouthern magnolias and the discovery of this new variety was broughtabout by reason of the apparently novel and distinctive features of theplant which presented a new and improved combination of characteristicsnever before exhibited in any Southern magnolia of which I have everbeen aware.

I reproduced this new variety of magnolia tree by means of cuttings atmy nursery at Easley, S.C., and a considerable number of selectedcuttings were rooted and grown to test the stability of the novelcharacteristics observed in the original plant. During the years sincemy discovery of this variety, it has been propagated through severalsuccessive generations and I was able to thereby determine that thenovel and distinctive features of my new magnolia variety remained truefrom generation to generation and appeared to be firmly fixed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

My new magnolia grandiflora, and certain features thereof, areillustrated by the accompanying drawings, of which sheet one shows atree that is about seven years old and about ten to twelve feet tall,and sheet two shows front and back sides of a young leaf in the upperview and the front and back sides of a mature leaf in the lower view,the front side being at the left and the colors being as close to thosespecified as is reasonably possible to obtain by conventionalphotographic procedures.

DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW PLANT

The following is a detailed description of my new magnolia grandiflorabased upon observations of a tree growing in my nursery and about sevenyears old, the observations having been made in the early summer of 1983at Easley, S.C., the color designations being according to The R.H.S.Colour Chart of The Royal Horticultural Society of London, England.

Origin: Seedling.

Parentage: Unknown. This seedling originated in a bed of seedling grownSouthern magnolias, the original seeds for this bed resulting from openpollination of a number of Southern magnolias.

Classification:

Botanic.--Magnolia Grandiflora.

Commercial.--Southern Magnolia.

Form: Tall evergreen tree of pyramidal habit with a straight and strongcentral trunk.

Height: In a period of seven years from a rooted cutting, the plantreaches a height of ten to twelve feet with a trunk size of about threeto four inches and with smooth grey-brown bark which becomes deep greywith maturity. The growth rate is normally about 20 or more inches peryear, ultimately reaching a height of 50 to 60 feet at maturity, yet theplant maintains a dense habit because of its abundant branchdevelopment.

Branching: Numerous and closely spaced diverging at an angle ofapproximately 45° from the central trunk. The branches sweep back towardthe trunk, however, and grow almost parallel for a distance creating adense, compact crown which is totally atypical for a young Southernmagnolia, although fifteen year old plants have maintained this samesecondary branching orientation. The development of five to sevensecondary branches in a growth flush results in a very dense, compactplant all the way to ground level. In Easley, S.C., a second flush ofgrowth develops from the first flush in July yielding four to fiveadditional breaks which in a single growing season may mean as many astwenty to thirty-five breaks.

Foliage: The leaves are evergreen and alternate, firmly coriaceous intexture and of obovate-oblong or elliptical shape, the size being fromfour to seven and one-half inches long and two to three inches wide withentire margins and undulating surface. The petioles are stout,pubescent, and about one-half to one inch long.

Color:

New growth.--Top Surface -- Yellow Green R.H.S. 144 A. Bottom Surface --Greyed Orange R.H.S. 165 B.

Mature leaves.--Top Side -- Dark Green R.H.S. 137 B. Bottom Side -- GreyBrown R.H.S. 199 A. Color changes occur as the leaves mature and thetime of change depends on climatic conditions. In South Carolina, theleaves from two growth flushes have matured to lustrous dark green bylate August.

Stems: Young stems, one and two years old, are stout and strong,one-quarter inch to three-eighths inch in diameter, pubescent, rustcolored and dotted with grey brown lenticels marked with a distinctcircular scale scar at each node. Older stems show a greenish browncoloration as the rusty pubescence falls away.

Buds: Buds that are terminal of the stem are large, about one inch long,slightly curved, and covered by a single ensheathing scale which has arusty brown silky pubescence. Lateral buds are smaller, about one-eighthinch long, borne singly above the leaf scar, ovoid in shape and withbrownish pubescence.

Flowers: Each flower is borne singly at the end of a branch, is aboutfour inches in diameter, and is composed of nine petals that are tightlyoverlapping in bud and open to a cup-shaped configuration. The flowercolor is creamy white and very pleasingly fragrant. Flowering isinitiated in mid to late May and continuous into early July on asustained basis, after which sporadic flowers occur throughout thegrowing season.

Fruit: The fruit is aggregate of follicles that are ovoid in shape andborne singly at the end of the branch, each averaging about two to twoand one-half inches long and one to one and one-half inches wide. Thefruits turn rose pink to rose red in early September and remain colorfulinto October; the seeds are oval in shape and are one-quarter tothree-eighths inch long covered with a red aril. They naturally dehiscefrom the follicles in September-October and are attached by astring-like funicular stalk.

In general, the outstanding characteristics of my new variety ofmagnolia grandiflora, which distinguish it from other varieties ofSouthern magnolia and all others, reside in its overall very dense andpyramidal appearance enlightened by the light green color of its newleaves that changes to a lustrous dark green color at maturity. Theyoung leaves have a brownish under side which becomes rusty brown as theleaves mature and the combination of the light and dark green leaveswith the brownish under side coloring provides a very attractive andpleasing color variegation for the overall and almost solid appearanceof the entire tree. The four inch diameter creamy white flowers are verymuch smaller than the eight to twelve inch normal flower of the speciesand the flowers are borne in the first and second year of growth onplants grown from cuttings. In the fifth and sixth year, the plantdisplays extreme floriferous qualities and is infinitely superior toplants grown from seed which may take as long as fifteen to twenty yearsto flower.

The fruit is about half the size and is not as obtrusive or messy as therelatively large fruit of the species. The compact, pyramidal-oval crownof my new magnolia selection is more upright than is typical of mostSouthern magnolias which tend to a more broad-pyramid and more opencrown, especially in youth. Also, the straight central trunk, even inyouth, strongly supports the secondary branches and results in a treethat requires no staking.

My new magnolia grandiflora is easy to root from cuttings collected inJuly and early August which assures trueness-to-type and the rapidgrowth rate under normal fertilizer and moisture conditions, togetherwith its very abundant branch development, assures that the plant willalways maintain a very dense habit.

I claim:
 1. The new and distinct variety of magnolia grandiflora,substantially as herein shown and described, characterized by itsvigorous, dense, pyramidal growth habit and its abundant production ofsmall, white, very fragrant flowers and rose red fruits which are halfthe size of those normal to the species.